To store gases for stationary and mobile applications, sorption stores are increasingly being used nowadays in addition to pressurized gas tanks. Sorption stores generally comprise an adsorption medium having a large internal surface area on which the gas is adsorbed and thereby stored. During filling of a sorption store, heat is liberated as a result of the adsorption and has to be removed from the store. Analogously, heat has to be supplied for the process of desorption when taking gas from the store. Heat management is therefore of great importance in the design of sorption stores.
The patent application U.S. 2008/0168776 A1 describes a sorption store for hydrogen which comprises an external container which is thermally insulated from the surroundings and in the interior of which a plurality of pressure containers comprising an adsorption medium are arranged. The intermediate spaces between the pressure containers are filled with a cooling liquid in order to be able to remove the heat evolved during adsorption.
The patent application DE 10 2007 058 673 A1 describes an apparatus for storing gaseous hydrocarbons, which comprises an insulated container filled with an adsorption medium. A heating element is provided in the container and this heating element is controlled by means of a control system in such a way that a minimum pressure is maintained over an ideally long period of time when taking off gas.
A disadvantage of known sorption stores is that filling with gas proceeds only slowly. Particularly in mobile applications, for example in motor vehicles, this disadvantage is particularly serious.